Pali Blues will win W-League title again in 2009

"The Pali Blues Soccer Club bolstered their roster today with the addition of three UCLA products who have logged international games for their respective nations. U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Lauren Cheney, Canadian National Team striker Kara Lang and Mexican National Team forward Iris Mora are set to join the Blues when they embark upon their sophomore campaign as defending champions of the USL W-League this summer."

Another W-League title in the bag for Charlie!

 

The Naimo Magic Continues

The Pali Blues started the 2009 season right where they left off 2008, in front on a spirited crowd of 902 fans at the Stadium By The Sea with a 2-1 victory over the L.A. Legends. The game was played at a very fast pace from the start as neither team could discourage the other from pressing. The Blues opened the scoring in the 14th minute as Jodie Taylor made a clever run out of the midfield and ran onto a well weighted through pass from Emily Wynne to slot the ball into the side netting for a 1-0 lead.
The second half also started with blazing pace, and it was not long before Lauren Welch out jumped a Blues defender to nail a header from Amelia Mathis into the bottom corner of the goal to bring the game level at 1-1 in the 48th minute. It wasn’t long until the Blues bulled the goal back and took the lead for good. In the 51st minute, Emily Wynne headed home a corner from Iris Mora for the final goal of the match and a 2-1 win for the Blues.
The Blues are home again at 3:00 p.m. next Sunday, May 17th, for the last time until late June.

http://www.bluessoccerclub.com/home/329870.html

 

No worries, it wont happen. Buffalo will destroy Ottawa. Spending huge amounts of cash. Former Pali players will play there this summer.

 

Pali Blues beat Real Colorado 2-0.

 

Pali Blues forward Iris Mora, 1G 1A in 2-0 win over Real Colorado, was named to W-League Team of the Week.
http://wleague.uslsoccer.com/home/332540.html

 

http://bluessoccerclub.com/home/335117.html

The defending USL W-League champion Pali Blues Soccer Club bolstered its roster today when it became official that U.S. National Team midfielder Tobin Heath is joining the team for the 2009 season. Heath was the youngest member on the U.S. squad when they brought home Olympic Gold last summer, and she joins striker Lauren Cheney as the second player on the Blues roster that brought home a Gold Medal. "Tobin is one of the best take on artists in the women’s game,” Blues head coach Charlie Naimo commented. “Her clever movements off the ball and ability to play in and out of pressure are world class, and she will be a treat for our fans."
This marks the second time that Naimo and Heath have linked up for W-League action as the duo was together for three seasons with the New Jersey Wildcats. Naimo was the head coach of the Wildcats for the duration of those three years while Heath was a student at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Together, they reached the W-League championship in 2004 and won the crown in 2006.
Heath has earned 14 caps with the U.S. Women’s Full National Team after earning herself a spot on the squad in 2007. Before joining the full team, she spent time with the U-16, U-17 and U-20 sides of the U.S. National Team.


WHAT NOW W-LEAGUE?

 

The Pali Blues Soccer Club (2-0-1) ran into a worthy competitor when they traveled to play the Seattle Sounders (2-0-3) on Friday night at the Starfire Complex, and 90 minutes of hard-fought soccer eventually resulted in a 2-2 draw. The contest was the first non-win for the Blues since joining the W-League in 2008, but the team still preserved in this match to run their league unbeaten streak to 17 games. "Seattle, as always, played a great game, but I felt we deserved better,” Blues head coach Charlie Naimo commented. “They certainly had a few more chances, but in the end, we created quite a few more 100 percent opportunities than they did."
Sounder midfielder Michelle French opened the scoring in this match-up when she scored a feed from defender Kathryn Warner in the 35th minute, but the Blues would quickly retaliate. Just three minutes later, the Blues offense would move the ball through the Seattle midfield, and defender Whitney Engen then tallied her first goal of the young season by scoring a solo knock. With the count still knotted up at one each, the whistle blew seven minutes later to send the two teams into halftime.
As the competition on the field continued to heat up, the Blues eventually received a go-ahead notch in the 72nd minute on a Jodie Taylor to Lauren Cheney score. Seattle stayed on the attack at this point in the match, and their efforts then produced an equalizer in the 85th minute on a Veronica Perez goal. With the scoreboard reading 2-2, the final minutes of regulation elapsed, and the result became official.
"Overall, it was the best we played all season, and our team showed a lot of character coming back from a goal down, navigating through a few injuries to our backline during the game and dealing with the worst officiating I have ever experienced in my time in the W-League,” Naimo reflected. “No excuses, though, because if we finished better, the missed calls would not have kept us from three points. It is absolutely critical we get a result in Vancouver."
Next up for the Blues is that aforementioned road match-up against the Whitecaps on Sunday night at 7:00 p.m., and that contest can be viewed live by logging on to www.usllive.com. The team will remain on the road for their next three games before returning to the Stadium by the Sea for a 7:00 p.m. pairing with Vancouver on Tuesday, June 23rd.

 

Despite a flurry of scoring chances by Becca Mays in the second half, the Pali Blues made a first-half goal stand up for a 1-0 victory on Friday night over the Real Colorado Cougars at Shea Stadium in Highlands Ranch.

 

In most circumstances, there are no moral victories in ties. But Sunday afternoon, the Force battled to a 0-0 tie against the defending W-League champion Pali Blues, creating energy and excitement on the team.


"Any time you play the Pali Blues and don't lose, it is a great accomplishment," Force head coach Craig Deacon said. "I felt like we had numerous chances to win the game, but so did they. Sometimes it's not always about creating opportunities, but it also involves a little luck and having the ball roll your way."
The Force could have used a little of that luck when several shots barely sailed over the net and when a second-half shot hit the crossbar.
In the 49th minute, the Force had its best opportunity to score when forward Nikki Marshal dribbled the ball up the right side of the field, passing it off to Monica Dolinsky, who fired from 25 yards out. The ball hit off the crossbar, landing directly in front of Molly Thomas. Thomas took the second-chance shot, but the ball carried just over the net.
The Blues (3-0-3) had more shots (9-8) and corner kicks (4-2) and committed fewer fouls (1-11), but the Force applied pressure and kept the Blues out of the net.